Host Organisation:Guesthouse Projects (Glasgow)
HEI: University of Aberdeen
PhD Research Synopsis:
What was your internship and what did you do?
I joined the host company as they were preparing to take a dance-theatre show on a short tour. The performance had been created by a team that includes a young boy, and is aimed at audiences aged 8 and over. My research and fieldwork has been in a similar area, so I was able to fit into the Company fairly easily – important because there were very few of us on the road. My main roles were as observer, assistant (where needed and appropriate, e.g. when travelling) and to offer any useful support or comparisons from academia, as the Company was adamant that the internship be a mutual knowledge exchange. I joined rehearsals beforehand, then accompanied the team to festivals in London, Hasselt and Frankfurt; in each place, they had been invited to perform 3-4 shows. I experienced the realities of taking work many miles from home, including the logistical and emotional labour, as well as the dynamics of travelling with people unrelated except through a shared connection to an artwork. I spoke with festival organisers, witnessed the different ways we were addressed and looked after, and shared ideas about many topics including broad differences between audiences of different ages and nationalities. I found myself not only observing, but unavoidably becoming active at various times within the Company – helping with costumes, transportation, and specific insights from my research and experience, for example. 
Figure 1– Imagine Festival, Southbank, London
Which aspects of the internship did you find most rewarding?
I really enjoyed being embedded within the host company, travelling with them as one of their own amongst the festivals we visited. From there my vantage point was 360 degrees: close connections with the company members but also being able to view the Festivals – structurally, artistically, organisationally – from both the inside and outside. I gained understandings and connections with key people in a formal way, but additionally during breaks where we could simply chat over topics, experiences, or elements that had been tricky to navigate during the show’s visit. The duality of vantage points – the span of timbres and connections – allowed me to compare and weigh up different perspectives, involving everything from the personal to the financial.
Figure 2– Technicians setting up in London
Why did you decide to undertake an internship?
Throughout my academic and professional experiences in theatre and dance, I have nurtured a keen interest in intersections – especially amongst different disciplines, and between practice and the theoretical. I am always keen to put these together and to witness what happens, so an internship offered this opportunity – a different experience from isolated study and writing, albeit linked at its core. My host organisation, Guesthouse Projects, similarly traverse boundaries; like me, they find similarities and useful complements between aspects often seen as separate or incompatible. Seeking deeper connections that benefit the practical and the intangible, I felt that immersing myself in practice would widen and refresh my overall thinking as I head into the final few months of my PhD.
Figure 3– Krokus Festival, Hasselt, Belgium
Has the internship influenced your future plans at all?
The time spent with the Company – with individuals within the organisation, outside it, and within a group – showed me how much I enjoy this kind of melding and interaction: practical and theoretical. It also demonstrated something of a pathway (and increased my confidence) towards undertaking it, if I can identify a way to continue this kind of work post-PhD. It cemented my desire to work amongst theatre and dance professionals, in whatever way is possible, contributing expertise that my doctoral work has given to me. The approaches I witnessed outside of the Scottish arts landscape gave me hope that there is an existing model, both rewarding and achievable, that could be adopted or developed closer to home – pending structural and financial opportunities!
Figure 4– Costumes for big and small
What are some of the top skills you’ve picked up or improved during the internship?
I was able to practice and make use of skills in the sharing of knowledge and research, especially the shifting of perspectives and relevance required when outside an academic sphere. Most key was using an adaptative approach required in summarising research for different audiences and circumstances, listening to others and taking all kinds of knowledge on board. Thinking through concepts, applications, and different ways to disseminate and collect knowledge was also necessary during my internship – considering different tones, and what would be of interest or use to individuals and organisations I met.
What are your top 3 tips for researchers looking to undertake an internship?
They’re interconnected: Use all the connections and possibilities available whilst you still have access to them – so, the backing of funders, HEIs, interested / invested sectors – before you are launched into the post-study world. Actively seek and retain connections from outside academia that share interests with you, particularly in thinking deeply or widely. Keep in mind that academia and the wider world can seem separate but making links between them is usually hugely beneficial to both – and to intern-researchers.
Figure 5– Outside the Frankfurt venue – a Gallus area!
CONNECT WITH Siân
Find out more about the Guesthouse Projects here
Find out more about Sian’s blogs on the Imaginate website
Find images and info from the Krokus Festival for children & young people (Hasselt, Belgium) here